Augmented reality (AR) technologies have been adopted in numerous applications, such as heads-up displays, mobile devices, and “smart” headwear and/or eyeglasses. AR typically involves embedding virtual objects (VOs) within a real-world physical scene. That is, AR refers to augmenting a user's physical reality by populating the user's view of an environment with one or more VOs. For instance, AR-enabled eyeglasses may provide holograms and/or projections of VOs onto transparent lenses included in the eyeglasses. A wearer may view their physical environment through the transparent lenses, while simultaneously viewing VOs embedded within their physical environment. Heads-up displays may similarly augment the user's reality, without the need for eyeglasses or headwear. For example, a vehicle may be equipped with a heads-up-enabled windshield. The driver may view virtualized versions of dashboard instruments or other VOs, without diverting their gaze from their windshield.
Mobile gaming applications have also widely adopted AR technologies. Users now routinely view, in real-time, image data captured by cameras embedded within their device, while a gaming application inserts VOs into the real-time image data displayed on their mobile display screens. Likewise, prior to purchasing a home furnishing item, such as furniture, a user may determine how the item will appear within a particular room within their home by employing AR eyeglasses or a display screen of a mobile device to embed a virtualized version of the item within a view of the room.
Although embedding VOs within a physical scene is now commonplace, oftentimes embedded virtual objects are not illuminated in a realistic manner. For example, conventional methods for embedding virtual objects may not consider the illumination sources included in the environment. Other conventional method may model the intensity of illumination sources as static and/or model the illumination sources as being infinitely far from the environment. Accordingly, the realism or naturalness of the virtual object may suffer.